Zanco Beetle Miniature Smartphone

There are many miniature phones hitting the shelves these days. The demand for tiny, basic mobile phones is at an all time high. The new Zanco Beetle is just one in a long line. Some people want to buy one because they think it looks really cool, others want one to use as a second phone, and a few people even want them for sinister reasons. To hide things like having an affair, or trying to sneak it into somewhere that does not allow the use of mobile phones. Many of those locations, such as a Prison, use a metal detector to scan for these devices.

Check out the full specification (USA)
 

Or view here for UK interest

Whatever the reason, the one thing that gets quite old after a while is that every time a new mini phone comes out it’s automatically given the title as the “Worlds Smallest Phone“. It’s a good marketing trick, but it’s not really the truth. Most of them have different dimensions and are different shapes. Some, like the Zanco Fly and the J8 Long CZ, are longer and thinner. While the Beetle is wider but shorter. Does it really need to be the smallest phone in the World? As long as it’s small enough, right.. Saying that, for the people smuggling them into places like Prisons, I guess they really do need to make sure they have the smallest nano phone possible.

Anyway, they are all tiny, so what does the Zanco Beetle have to offer. Well, it has a screen that’s a little over 1.5 Inches in size, and takes a micro SIM card. The big difference between this phone and its many competitors is that this is a touch screen phone. Some are calling it a fully fledged Smartphone. And at this moment, maybe it does hold the title for being the smallest touch screen phone.

Not sure how people with sausage fingers will fare using it though. I’d say they would probably find it quite annoying to be honest. Maybe using something like a matchstick would be a good idea. It’s capable of playing music in MP3 or MP4 format and even has a camera! With flash. There are not many details regarding the pixel count quality of the camera.

However, the numbers 3 and 7 seem to be paired together on a few websites giving the specification. So that either translates to 3 mega pixels, 7mp, or 3.7mp. I’d tend to go with the latter. This phone also has a flash light. A really fun feature that the Beetle has, and one that other similar phones also have, is the voice changer. You can choose some really funny voices. A few include, rude man, rude woman, Asian man, Black man and bad child. Messing around with those would be a laugh.

The new Zanco Beetle also has Bluetooth. Can it be used to browse the Internet? No, I wouldn’t have thought so. It’s just a basic, miniature mobile phone with some cool little features. And if it could, it won’t provide the best user experience. It won’t work on 3G (Three) but should be just fine on most other UK Networks. Battery life is also reported as being pretty good.

Will it pass the detector test? The real question is how sensitive is the detector. A good way to find out is to get your hands on a metal detector, put it on high sensitivity (In all metal mode) and scan the phone at close range. Does the detector make any noise? Then do it again with the micro SIM inside. That’s the best test you can do.

However, nothing is guaranteed, so the risk is in the carriers hands, or ***. Personally, I believe the Beetle will not pass through undetected. But, all in all, a good novelty phone for the cheap price tag. Excellent to take with you for exercises like running while simultaneously using it to listen to music, rather than carrying that spaceship we call a (full sized) Smartphone.

The J8: One Of The Smallest Cellphones

There are quite a few mobile phones out there that claim to own the title of “The worlds smallest cellphone”. Which one is actually the smallest? With there being so many company’s and manufacturers bringing out new mobile phones almost every month, in so many different countries (predominantly Asia), and with so many of those phones never being made available in the UK or USA, who knows for sure. One things for sure, the J8 Beat The Boss mobile phone is tiny! It is around the same size as an adults index finger!

A phone this size is a great novelty item. But the J8 is more than that. If you show this phone to your friends they probably won’t believe you when you say this is a real mobile phone, but they will be shocked when you actually make a call on it in front of them. It really is a fully functional cellphone which has some good little features for such a small, lightweight phone.

Of course, the J8 can send and receive text and make / receive calls. It has a nice keypad and will apparently work with any UK phone network except 3G. It takes a micro sized SIM card. The J8 by Long-CZ is capable of storing around 500 contacts and even has a built-in radio. Who needs to spend over £200 on what is considered a "trendy dumb phone" called the Punkt MP01 when you can buy one of these, which in my opinion is much better. And a lot cheaper.

Talk time (3-5 hours) and stand by time (Around 4 days) are also pretty good. However, the best feature of this phone is that it can double up as a Bluetooth Headset and even comes with the loop so it can be attached to your ear. The phone weighs under 20 grams and is made from mostly plastic.

Customer reviews are mostly positive, although there are a few people who complain about the build quality. It says Long-CZ on the screen, which is a company located in China. One thing to be aware of with this phone is that the micro SIM card has to be inserted into the phone upside down, which makes you think that some, but not all of the reviews that said the SIM doesn’t work, or the phone display says “insert SIM card” when it’s already in the phone, were probably written because the buyers weren’t aware of the SIM having to be put into the phone upside down.

Be aware: The quality control for this item probably isn’t the best and it can be the luck of the draw as to whether you get a phone that’s fault free or has a few problems. Most customers are happy, but it’s just something you should be aware of.

There are other very small phones out there that are also cheap to buy and have a good rating like this one. The one shaped like a car key fob is well worth a look. It’s not as long as this one but is thicker and weighs a little more.

I will be posting a mini-review about it soon. The J8 is a great phone for the price. Perfect as a novelty item, backup / spare, or to be used as a secret mobile phone! It's also available in white. If you want to buy one just go to Amazon or eBay and type in either "J8 Beat The Boss" or "Long-CZ J8". You should find many on there for sale. Looking for a normal sized, cheap basic phone? Take a look at one of the budget Samsung phones.